Bulldozers 'violate' heroes' bones

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Bill Sellars is furious. He cradles what appears to be a
fragment of human bone in his palm, muttering to nobody in
particular: "I knew it, I bloody well knew it. Nobody believed me,
but there are human remains all over this site and this is the
evidence."

The fragment he holds, which looks distinctly like a piece of
shattered vertebra, comes from soil removed by construction workers
at one of the most historically significant sites at Anzac Cove,
Ari Burnu, where the first Australian and New Zealand troops
stormed ashore on April 25, 1915, and where the first Turks
fell.

"This is a key heritage site, a sacred place, not just for
Australians, but for Turks. What you see going on today is
reckless, pointless vandalism," fumes Mr Sellars, a veteran
journalist, historian and unapologetic campaigner for the
preservation of Gallipoli heritage, and a long-time Australian
resident in the Gallipoli area.

Behind Mr Sellars, a bright yellow excavator grinds away,
chewing out chunks of earth from the Ari Burnu hill and dumping
them into a truck. The soil is being used as filling for a nearby
parking area.

An estimated 30,000 Australians, arriving in hundreds of buses,
will descend on the cove next month for Anzac Day
commemorations.

Some of the buses, it seems, could be parking on the remains of
Turkish, Australian and New Zealand soldiers if Mr Sellars is
correct.

Mr Sellars, Turkish tour guides, war veteran groups and
historians believe the entire cove should be declared a sacred site
and protected from further earth removal.

Only about 30 per cent of the 8709 Australians who died at
Gallipoli are buried in individual graves. Because of the hellish
nature of the fighting, many were left where they died. Others were
blown apart by shelling.

As Mr Sellars puts it: "It's not about construction work
interfering with existing grave sites. The remains of the dead are
scattered everywhere and it's criminal to start digging the place
up."

'This is a sacred place... What you see is vandalism.'

"TJ" Jezici, who with his wife Berina runs TJ Tours, catering
for young Australians seeking to explore the Gallipoli story,
shakes his head and asks construction workers: "Why are you doing
this? It's crazy."

Pointing at the truck full of rocks and earth, he shouts: "This
is so unnecessary. We do not need a road this wide."

Inquiries by The Age this week on Gallipoli Peninsula
revealed that most Turks involved in the issue - guides, local
government officials and historians - believe the Australian
Government not only approved the excavations, but has been the
driving force behind their speedy implementation despite countless
objections. Inquiries also confirm:

· Turkish authorities recently increased the width of the
road along Anzac Cove to 20 metres after contractors protested at
moves by the central government in Ankara to reduce it from six
metres to four metres.

· All the controversial construction work, with the
exception of a big new reception centre near the entrance to the
Gallipoli battlefields, has been approved in detail by the
Australian and New Zealand governments, apparently anxious to
alleviate overcrowding of battle sites on Anzac Day.

· Virtually all the new work is concentrated in areas
visited by Australians and New Zealanders.

· Rather than scrutinising the redevelopment at Anzac
Cove, Turkish authorities privately claim that the Australian and
New Zealand governments are pressing for the works to be completed
before Anzac Day, which will mark the 90th anniversary of the
landings. The Commonwealth War Graves office, which has an office
in nearby Canakkale, refused to comment, even though it is reported
to have been urging a speedy completion of work;

· Although plans have been approved by all governments
involved, Turkish authorities, apparently under instruction from
Osman Pepe, the Forestry Minister who is responsible for national
parks, refused to release them publicly or consult local
groups.

The Age believes construction work is being carried out by Yanki
Constructions, which in turn subcontracted the work. A company
source said the initial proposal was to widen the old road along
Anzac Cove by six metres, but the Government wanted to reduce that
to two metres to placate objectors.

"At that point there was some background political pressure
(and) the subcontractors got the decision overturned," the source
said. "But from what we understand, the Australian Government
always wanted the road widened."

The Turkish Tour Guides Association, retired military officers,
historical groups and teacher unions joined forces with the local
community to force a suspension of road-works at Anzac Cove 10 days
ago, but the work resumed on

Thursday without any formal announcement.

Yesterday the excavator was demolishing old foxholes, ancient
walking tracks and natural scrub that gives a clear idea of the
terrain Anzacs faced when they rushed ashore to forge a legend of
courage and mateship against overwhelming odds and the brilliance
of the Turkish commander Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, whom history
regards as the founder of modern Turkey.

Red and white markers dotted along the hilltop suggest that a
lot more earth is earmarked for removal. The examination of
pictures from the time of the invasion reveal that the entire area
has been severely compromised, not just by roadworks, but also by
sea erosion and the tens of thousands of visitors that clamber over
the area each year.

Along the coast, cliffs and hills have been swallowed up by the
elements and an old World War II gun emplacement has tumbled into
the sea.

What is extraordinary about the construction work at Anzac Cove,
a site John Howard wants to be accorded national heritage status,
is the dramatic way in which the entire area has been reshaped by
the work, work ironically intended to give Australians easier
access when they line up next month in their thousands for the dawn
service.

Apart from the partial destruction of Ari Burnu, Shrapnel Gully
and Hells Spit at the southern end of the cove have also been
degraded by road widening and the construction of another parking
area.

Soil from this end of the cove was initially dumped over the
cliff into the sea, burying part of the beach. After an outcry,
some of the soil has been removed, but the natural vegetation that
covered the cliffs has been decimated.

The north-south road running along the cliffs above the beach
has already been widened from six to 20 metres, enough to
accommodate three lanes.

Given that all the other roads on the entire Gallipoli Peninsula
are only four or five metres wide at most and during peak season
are made one way to ease congestion, it is puzzling why Anzac Cove
has been given the apparent status of a major road.

An experienced tour guide, who asked that his name not be
published, said: "When you look what is going on, the only
conclusion to draw is that all this is being done for the benefit
of Australians. On Anzac Day the place is a nightmare - there are
never enough toilets, thousands of people and hundreds of buses
make a bad combination for all concerned and especially the
environment."

Development also threatens the amenity of the memorial for
Simpson and his donkey. The new car park will be literally a
stone's throw away. The courageous 22-year-old - real name John
Simpson Kirkpatrick - saved hundreds of lives before losing his own
venturing onto the battlefields to retrieve the wounded with the
help of his donkey.

When Mr Sellars showed the worker the bone fragment and urged
him to explore the dumped soil for more remains, the man said: "No
problem, no problem." He was apparently only briefed to worry about
a full set of skeletal remains, not bone fragments.

But a famous Turk had a more enlightened approach to the sacred
ground that claimed 86,692 Turkish lives, 8709 Australians and 2701
New Zealanders.

On a monument just metres away from the Ari Burnu excavation are
inscribed the words of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who was just 33 years
old when he commanded his forces here.

Addressing mothers who lost sons in the eight-month conflict, he
said: "Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives, you
are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in
peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehemets
to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours.
You, the mothers who sent their sons from far away countries, wipe
away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are at
peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become
our sons as well."

For the crew manning the excavator this week, there was a job to
be done and what might lie in the soil was of no immediate concern,
and neither were Ataturk's fine sentiments.